Kids Count report: Texas children still lagging

Texas has become home for one of every six new children added to the poverty rolls, and the state continues to have the highest rate of uninsured children, according to a new “Kids Count” report released Wednesday.

”It’s time for a new story for Texas,” Texas Kids Count Director Frances Deviney said while assessing the state’s climate for children. “These are reflections of the priorities in this state.”

** More than 600,000 Texas children have at least one unemployed parent who is looking for work.

** One of every four Texas preschool aged children is not read to regularly – ranking last in the country.

** Texas has the highest percentage of low-wage jobs in the country.

The report offers a different story than the one Gov. Rick Perry is touting on the presidential campaign trail. Perry points to Texas as the leading jobs-producing state.

Because of its non-profit status, Deviney said, her group could not comment on the political landscape.

As far as public policy, Deviney said: “If we really want to have Texas children follow the same trajectory of Texas businesses, we’re going to have to start investing in them the same way we have invested in business in Texas.”

Texas does not measure success by the number of people on public assistance, Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said.

“One of Gov. Perry’s primary goals has been to create a climate that encourages job creation and provides an environment of independence, rather than dependence,” she said. “Since 2009, 40 percent of the nation’s net new jobs were created in Texas, and 95 percent of those jobs are above minimum wage. Additionally, Texas ranks third in the nation in personal income growth during the governor’s tenure.”

“Unlike some states that, over the years, have placed a cap on the number of children who can enroll in their CHIP programs, Texas has never rejected an eligible CHIP applicant,” she said. “Under Gov. Perry, Texas has utilized considerable resources encouraging parents to enroll their children in CHIP/Children’s Medicaid program. Despite those outreach efforts, nearly 30 percent of children eligible for these programs have not been not enrolled by their parents.”

But Texas continually ranks in the bottom third “in how our kids are doing” compared to others states, Deviney said.

The storyline will change if state leaders and other Texans “put children and families first,” she said.

“Children cannot succeed unless parents succeed,” she said. “And we have to make sure that families are economically secure so they can provide for their kids.”

By age 4, the average child in a professional family has heard about 20 million more words than a child in a working-class family and about 35 million more words than a youngster in a low-income family, according to the report. Texas’ high poverty rate contributes to the state having the worst rate in the country of preschool children who are not read to regularly.

Education is the only way for Texas to change the trend line, according to Texas demographer Steve Murdock, who points to more high quality Pre K and more TEXAS college scholarship grants as necessary beginning steps to do it.

Texas lawmakers cut both Pre K and the TEXAS grant program this year.

“It tells us that our priorities are in a different place right now – that children and families are not at the forefront right now,” Deviney said.